Flash check for acetylene-gas tanks



A. F. WESTLUND.

FLASH CHECK FOR ACETYLENE GAS TANKS. 4

APPLICATION FILED AUG-I3, 1918. Patented Feb. ZI, 11922.

UNITED s'rArEs -o-LIrn comm,

PATENT Vcria-fin:a.

INDIANA, ASSIGNOR 'E0 THEEREST; INDIANA, AA CORPORATION F NEW Yonex. FLASH canon non. acErYLnNn-ees TANKS.

- application ma august 1s, 191s. semi no. 249,707. To nlliv'om tmy concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT FRANK Wns'r- LUND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, Marion County, and State of Indiana, have invented and discovered certain new and useful Im rovements in Flash Checks for Acetyleneas Tanks, of

which the following is a specification.

My said invention consists in certain iinprovements in -a ash or backfire check forv acetylene gas lines of that type forming the .y

subject matter of application No; 138,659,

.-iled Dec. 23, 1916, vby myself, jointly with Henry Sidney Smith, its purpose being to provide a check of the type referred to in which the iiash arrestin construction is of form, as mount'ein a cartridge `casereby it may be readily removed and reiilled, andA possessing of which will be heremafter more' fully described and claimed.

Y 1 R ferring to the accompanying drawings x similar reference c fitting and adjacent parts which are made a vart hereof, and on which aracters indicate similar parts,

-1 Figure 1 is a view in. elevation of; the upper end of an 'acetylene gas tank 'ofy a common type, provided with an outlet fitting or valve, and showing a pipe or hose con,

1s commonly emnected therewith, such` as ployed to sup ly tools with aceiylene gas'for cutting, wel ing, lighting an other purposes, the casing of said outlet fitting or valve embodying the flash arrester forming .radial-notches spaced around its edge and cutting .back an appropriate distance toward I its center ythrough which the gas may' pass the parts"- composing 4the ilash check in. disassembled the subject matter. of my said invention,

Figure 2, a central sectionY through the Figure 3, a view illustrating relation, Y

Figure 4, a view ofa modified form, and

Figure 5, a view illustrating an arrangement and apparatus wherein a battery of tanks are employed. c L

In said drawings the portions'marked lA represent the acetylene gas. tank, and B the tu e or hose for making the connection with the cutting, welding or other tool. I

Said tank A is provided with a collar 10 around a screw-threaded perforation in its top, in which the valve casing 11 is connected. The lower end of casing 1l is inserted, a chamber 51 other advantages, all j screen 20 may formed with an interiorly screw-threaded socket into which, a-perforated plug 50 is being provlded above said plug. The valve casing 11 hase screwthreaded socket12 for connection with the tube ittlng B and is formed with a central aperture 13 which is controlled by a needle valve 14 mounted in a perforation intersecting said perforatoin 13 at an angle as shown. aid needle Avalve 14 is formed on the end "of a screwhreaded stem and adapted to be adjusted b turning said stem in the usual manner. l he plug 50 inthe lower end of valve casing 11 has a central perforation 52 and depends a distance below said casing, with. a tapered annular channelin said cas- 1ng surrounding the upper end of its depending portion. The cartridge shell 15 is tapered correspondingly at' its upper end and screwed onto said depending portion,

lforming a tapered joint, asshown in Figure formed with the bottom in piece with its sides and has a concave upper surface. A

recess is formed in, the lower Vend of said vcartridge shell and numerous perforationelead through said bottom as shown, A screen vbasket 18 is mounted therein tooprevent dust ordirt from passing into the casin .15. y A disc or plate 19 of lead or'other so material is mounted on the top of the concave bottom vformed with a series of When flowin from the tank into the cham-- bei' above 51e cartridge shell. .A basket also be mounted at this end of the device. Above the disc 19 is a series of`strainer discs 21 composed of strainer cloth, referably of fine wlre mesh. On top of sai strainer discs is mounted a quantity ofaluminum shavings 22, `which are `found to possess certain advantages over the lead balls shown in the abovementioned application, although lead balls are perfectly practical for the purpose. Above the aluminum shavings or turnings are another series of strainer discs 23 and above said discs a plate 24 formed with numerous perforations.

YThe soft plate 19 rests at its edges upon the edge of the bottom of the cartridge, said bottom being concaved or tapered toward the center from its edges providing a chamber beneath said plate 19 into which the gas can flow from the tank through the perforations in the bottom of the cartridge and from which chamber the gas passes through the radial notches around the edge of said' plate 19, through the strainer discs 21, through the mass of aluminum shavings-22, through the strainer discs 23 and through the perforations in disc 24 into a chamber 25, formed by a recess in the head plate 26 of the cartridge, and from thence through the central perforation in said head plate and plug 50 to chamber 51, and from thence through the central perforation 13 to the tube B, by which it is conducted under the regulation provided by valve 14 to the cutting, welding or other tool with which it is to be used.

The cartridge shell 15 is preferably of brass or hard metal as is also the head 26 and the plate 24. Head 26 is soldered or otherwise lsecurely secured in place.

As explained in the application before referred to, in the use of acetylene gas in connection with cutting and welding tools, torches, etc., it occasionally occurs that because of over-heating of the torch employed,

or for some other reason, a back flash or back fire occurs. This back fire may travel through the length of the hose and through the regulator in the valve casing and through the valve to the interior of the tank. violence of the back fire or back flash may result in a local breaking down of thelporous filling employed in the dissolved acetylene cylinder and thus forms a pocket which being filled with compressed acetylene gas may result in an explosion. With the construction of back flash arrestor herein shown and described, in the event of a back flash the pressure upon the washer or plate 19 transmitted throughI the other parts, immediately causes said plate 19 to buckle down upon the top surface of the bottom of the cartridge, seating said plate over the perforations and Causing the soft metal to extrude into said small openings, and seal them against the passage of any gas or fire. thus protecting the gas in the tank and avoiding the danger of an explosion. I have found by experiment-s that when a. back flash or back fire occurs, two waves proceed from the point of ignition, one a thermal wave, and the other a pressure wave. The pressure wave precedes' the thermal wave throughout the explosion chamber and thus reaches the flash arrestol or soft plate 19 first. (')n account of the resistance to the flow of gas through the flash arrestor filling the pressure wave causes the aluminum shavings to become tightlyA packed and as the pressure increases in intensity the The lead disc is extruded into the small perfora tion in the bottom of the cartridge just beneath it. The thermal wave follows and comes in contact with Vthe tightly packed aluminum shavings and the heat of this wave is dissipated to such an extent that the temperature of the explosion is lowered below the ignition point of decomposition.

The construction in Figure 4 will be readily understood from the foregoing description, it being merely a different type of fitting adapted to be inserted at any desired point in the supply line, as indicated in Figure 5, instead of beingformed in the body of the valve itself. y

In Figure 5, I show a battery of gas tanks, and any number may be used instead of the two shown, each tank connected to a header 30, from kwhich the supply tube 3l leads to the tool. Y A flash check of my improved construction may be provided in the outlet fitting or valve of each tank, and if desired, fitting of the form shown in Figure 4 may be provided at points 32, where the cylinders connect into the manifold, or at any other p oints in the supply line at which it is desired to arrest a flash or back fire.

As indicated in Figure 2, the flash arrester is mounted mainly within the tank, below its top, in an appropriate chamber in the fitting, and isentirely removed from danger of being tampered with by a user or others.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A flash check or arrestor for acetylene gas supply lines comprising. a. cartridge shell interposed in the path of the gas with its ends formed with perforated closures, the lower end or bottom being concave, la soft ductile plate with normally flat surfaces mounted on said bottom and having notches in its edges, and means inter osed between said soft plate and the head o the cartridge for receiving the back pressure and causing said soft plate to collapse to conform to the concave bottom and cover and seal the per-k forations therein under the shock caused by an explosion, substantially as set forth.

2. A flash check for an acetylene gassupply line comprising a cartridge shell mount. ed in said line and having perforated ends rigidly mounted therein, a collapsible plate of ductile material adapted to cover and ext-rude under pressure into the perforations in one end, and porous substance between said plate and the other end for receivin and. transmitting the pressure to said collapsible plate when an explosion occurs, substantially as set forth.

3. A flash arrestor or check for an acetylene gas supply line comprising a soft plate interposed between the tank outlet andthe point of' use in a position to receive the back pressure caused by the back ,fire and be com pressed to cover and close the outlet from this 7th day of August, A. D. nineteen said tank, another plate rigidly supported hundred an eighteen. spaced therefrom, and aluminum shavngs interposed between said soft plate and said ALBERT FRANK WESTLUND' [L S] 5 other p'iate,substantia11y as set forth. Witnesses:

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set E. J. RORK,

my hand and seal atlndianapol's, Indiana, FRANK SMITH. 

